Assessing cardiorespiratory capacity in older adults with major depression and Alzheimer disease

Abstract

Objective To assess cardiorespiratory capacity through subjective and objective tests in older adults diagnosed with major depression (MDD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and healthy older adults. Methods Fifty seven subjects (72 ± 7.9 years) were divided into three groups: MDD (n = 20), AD (n = 17) and Healthy (n = 20). The subjects answered Hamilton Scale (HAM-D), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ) and 2-minute Step test. Results MDD and AD showed lower scores than healthy group for Nomogram VSAQ (p < 0.001) and 2-minute Step (p = 0.009; p = 0.008, respectively). Adjusted for age and educational level, no differences among groups were observed for Step (MDD, p = 0.097; AD, p = 0.102). AD group did not present differences to healthy group for Step, when adjusting for MMSE (p = 0.261). Conclusions Despite the lower cardiorespiratory fitness of elderly patients with DM and DA have been found in both evaluations, the results should be viewed with caution, since the tests showed low correlation and different risk classifications of functional loss. In addition, age, level educational and cognitive performance are variables that can influence the performance objective evaluation.

Physical activity and sedentary behavior in people with major depressive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…At the full text review stage, seven of 32 research groups contacted provided additional data (see acknowledgements). Overall, 24 articles, were eligible for inclusion (Appelhans et al, 2012;Belvederi Murri et al, 2015;Bernard et al, 2015;Boettger et al, 2009;Combs et al, 2014;Correia and Ravasco, 2014;Craft et al, 2007;Da Ronch et al, 2015;de Wit et al, 2011;Donath et al, 2010;Forlenza and Miller, 2006;Garcia-Toro et al, 2012;Helgadóttir et al, 2015;Hoogendijk et al, 2008;McKercher et al, 2013;Mota-Pereira et al, 2011;Pfaff et al, 2014;Rahe et al, 2014;Stanley et al, 1999;Stavrakakis et al, 2015;Vancampfort et al, 2015a;Weinstein et al, 2010;Wielopolski et al, 2015;Zanco et al, 2016).…”

Types of leisure time physical activities (LTPA) of community-dwelling persons who have been screened positive for dementia

“…The variability is mainly due to different instruments used to measure both cognitive impairment and physical activity. However, there is evidence that physical activity is lower in cognitively-impaired persons than in persons without cognitive impairments [ 36 – 38 ], and in persons with dementia compared to cognitively-healthy persons [ 12 , 39 – 41 ]. We found that the most frequently-mentioned types of activity were gardening (35.3%), cycling (24.1%), and mobility training in sport groups (12.4%).…”

Association among 2-min step test, functional level and diagnosis of dementia

“…Some authors argue that this may represent a set of systemic, motor and cognitive changes that start in the pre-dementia stages and change as the disease progresses. 14 , 15 Burns, Cronk et al 15 reported a reduction in VO 2peak among individuals with AD and its correlation with brain atrophy caused by dementia, suggesting the possibility that the metabolic dysfunctions occurring in the brain of these elderly are also occurring in the muscle periphery, making AD a systemic disease. Motor changes also demonstrate a worsening dependent on disease progression, especially for motor processes regulated by complex cortical mechanisms.…”